Hague Prosecutors Seek Ratko Mladic Appeal Hearing in July

Ratko Mladic. Photo: MICT

The prosecution at the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague requested on Friday that the appeal hearing in the trial of Ratko Mladic for genocide and other wartime crimes be rescheduled for July 20.

“Notwithstanding the pandemic, the Mechanism has an obligation to ensure expeditious proceedings. The appeal hearing cannot be postponed until the pandemic is over. Rather, it should be held promptly, while the public health situation in the Netherlands is relatively stable,” the prosecution said.

The prosecution also asked for appropriate technology to be provided so that a remote or partially distanced hearing could be held, as well as for a courtroom to be rearranged to fulfil health and safety requirements.

The prosecution insisted the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals’ rules provide sufficient flexibility to conduct remote proceedings through videoconferencing technology or in the absence of a judge.

It argued that scheduling a hearing for the end of July would allow enough time to make the necessary arrangements for the appeal against Mladic’s verdict to be properly and safely heard.

“Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, proceedings must continue as expeditiously as possible. This is not only a fair trial right, it is also in the interests of justice, the victims and the international community,” the prosecution said.

The UN court sentenced Mladic to life imprisonment in November 2017, finding him guilty of genocide of Bosniaks from Srebrenica in 1995, the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, terrorising the population of Sarajevo during the siege of the city, and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.

Mladic appealed against the verdict, as did the Hague prosecution, which is calling for him to be found guilty of genocide in six other municipalities in 1992.

Last month, the court postponed the appeal hearing until further notice because of travel restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It also said that was not advisable for Mladic, who is 77 and has had several illnesses, to attend the hearings as he is in a ‘high risk group’ due to his age and medical history. Mladic has had several serious medical problems while in detention in the Netherlands and has suffered two strokes and a heart attack.

The appeal hearing had already been postponed once before this year because the former Bosnian Serb military chief needed a colon operation.